


Heaven in Hiding

by kaientai



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M, Justice for Tengu Satori, and dumbass hinata and kags, i love demon tendou
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-12-26 13:44:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18283472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaientai/pseuds/kaientai
Summary: All your great great great grand-somethings wanted was to keep the demon that terrorized the valley every one hundred years at bay for as long as necessary.But it's not your fault if said demon suddenly takes a liking to you, right?





	Heaven in Hiding

**Author's Note:**

> Some things to take note of before reading:  
> \- Tengus are a bird-like monsters, or _yokai_ , if you'd prefer. Tendou was often referred to as a yokai as he was growing up, which is one of the prime inspirations for this. (Also, Satori Tengu is a nice pun)  
> \- The name Benzaiten will be mentioned in the work. She is known as the goddess of eloquence, but in some accounts, the goddess of love.

A strong wind howled in your ears as the tempest foreseen by the village oracle ripped through the valley. Eyes squinted, you gazed up at the starless sky. The moon gods dared not show themselves tonight, it seemed.

The protective seals hung from the _torii_ of the shrine chimed with the charms that tied them down. Some of the wooden floorboards creaked from the intensity of the gales. The embers that licked at the torches mounted on the pillars flickered at the threat of extinguishment. So far, this was the worst one yet. Goosebumps crept up your skin, the chill easily seeping through the thick layers of your yukata. Each blow could almost cut through your cheeks. Your fingers tightened around the bronze scepter passed down into your family for generations. The metal was cold, and the ravenous breeze didn’t permit you any semblance of warmth. You’ve had your fair share of unforgiving winter nights, but this was...different.

You remembered, as clear as day, all the indications of his coming. Your grandmother had made sure to drill you into committing every detail to memory, since you had to inherit the responsibility of guarding the Fujiwara Shrine earlier than anticipated. The first sign of his return would be the untamed wind that would definitely catch even the eyes of the gods. This time, he sure was attempting to draw all the attention to himself.

With your other hand, you constricted your grip around the necklace that has kept the demon at bay for centuries. It was much larger than the regular charm or pendant that women would wear for the trend. It was as big as your palm. After all, it held what the demon wanted most.

His heart.

The glass that encased the demon’s heart pulsed faintly, as if it were still attached to his body. And that would be the second sign.

Fujiwara shrinekeepers were bounded by obligation to never let the heart out of their sight, and should be worn by the Head Guardian at all times, even it posed a threat to their lives.

The third sign?

“They’ve given me quite a pretty one this time around, eh?”

There was no third sign. You forced yourself not to flinch at his sudden manifestation behind you. Though he loved brewing the wildest of storms before his arrival, Satori did like to get things over with as quickly as possible. Slowly, you turned around to face him.

He was donned with the most ethereal haori you’ve ever laid your eyes on. It was as white as the purest snow, with violet accents lining the hems. You wished to assume that the red splotches on the textile were merely designs of whoever tailored the clothes of demons who were banished on a hundred-year basis. But you knew far too well that bloodstains were forever on demons. 

Although, his attire was not the most compelling to look at.

Of course, your grandmother had painted you a vague image of Satori the Tengu as she recounted grandfather’s tale. He was not like the regular yokai who terrorized humans for the fun of it. He did not even look the part. No, it was long believed that Satori might have been the offspring of Benzaiten, herself, if the goddess somehow let herself be besmirched by the filthy hands of a tengu. His hair came in long tufts of the most vibrant crimson, with piercing eyes to match. And though the common tengu had long, ugly noses, that certainly was not evident on Satori’s face. However, even if he was beautiful, there were reasons why your ancestors felt the need to suppress him for centuries at a time.

You’ve heard about what his appearance would be dozens upon dozens of instances, as your grandmother prepared you for your impending duty. But one thing she couldn’t accurately describe in detail was what his wings looked like.

A contempt smile rested on his lips, as you marveled at his unfolded wings. Each feather seemed like it had been dipped in the ichor of an angel—ivory with a golden shimmer that shone even in the dead of night. Your lips parted with a gasp, one hand reaching out for a touch, a caress, a grasp—anything! But just as your fingers were about to make contact with his wings, the chain of the necklace containing his heart sizzled on your skin. The glass was pulsing even stronger this time, threatening to break its prison.

You hissed, but endured the pain, nonetheless. Snapping out of your sudden trance, you steeled yourself.

“In the name of the seven heavenly gods,” you chanted an unfamiliar language, pointing the tip of the scepter in his face, “I banish your existence from this material plane, Satori the Tengu!”

He only looked at you.

“Say, have your elders gotten lax with passing down the incantations to their young-ins?” Satori chuckled. “If you wish to seal me for the next hundred years, you need a stronger spell, girl.”

Your body froze up at his nonchalance. How was he unaffected? You’ve read the Shinto scrolls through and through, and that’s the only thing mentioned about the sealing spell. Grandmother told you as much, too. So why...?

Upon seeing your dismantled confidence, he hollered once more. “Ah, you didn’t hear about my last banishment from the person who performed it firsthand, didn’t you?”

Your eyes fell to the floor.

He placed a taloned hand on your shoulder, and his touch seemed to freeze the part he came in contact with. But unlike the breeze, his touch was perpetually freezing. Humans often do that as a gesture of comfort, but you had no idea what to make of it if a yokai did it to you.

“I commend your efforts, girl,” he praised. “But I am not quite interested in being banished again. I have been going to and from the Netherrealm for, what, millennia already." He exhaled a dramatic sigh. "Surely, I deserve some rest from this nonsense?"

Your brows furrowed in suspicion. "By rest, you mean a chance to destroy the valley once again?" 

Satori's lips spread into a crazed grin. "Oh? Is that what the elders taught you? That the white demon that they have been banishing over and over and _over_ again was that much of a brute?" His blood red eyes glowed with such intensity, that you had to instinctively back away, but with each step you took away from him, he only returned with a step closer to you. This continued until he managed to force your back against one of the pillars in the shrine. His face was a hair's breadth from yours, and you can feel his ice-cold breath against your skin. He was much, much taller than you were. Your feet were rooted to the spot, dread replacing the bravery you had put on earlier. You desperately wanted to scream for help, but it's been conveyed to you that the banishment is something that the Head Guardian should be able to execute alone. No one else was vacating the shrine.

You were at the mercy of the demon in front of you. 

"If I explained myself, would things change, perhaps?" Poison dripped from his words. "Of course they wouldn't. Humans only listen to what favors them, even if there are infinite possibilities presented, after all."

You racked your brain with any tales from the Shinto scrolls regarding Satori losing composure. He was always depicted as an indifferent being, who often had no qualms with being sent back to the Netherrealm every time he manifested in this world. What had changed?

His sharp, taloned hands reached for your face, and you're almost certain that he would rip your skin to shreds right there. You closed your eyes, anticipating the end of your days, until you felt the caress of a calloused, yet freezing hand instead. 

When you blinked, the fury in his eyes was but a memory, and has been overcome by something akin to pity, but not quite. 

"You know, even if my physical body is not within the bounds of your realm, I can still peer into what is going on," he murmured against your ear. His large hand enclosed the hand you used to hold on to the necklace, which you didn't realize you were clutching tightly against your chest. "You're a good child, the first human I knew my heart would be secure with." 

You were stunned at his sudden change of temperance. Were demons as precarious as they said? Satori continued to surprise you when he pulled away, folding his great wings back in place. Red eyes gazed upward into the dark sky, and for some reason, the clouds overhead parted with just one glance from Satori. The moon spilled her light onto the shrine, illuminating even the darkest corners. Your mouth hung in disbelief. Is this...really what a demon was supposed to be capable of? 

He retracted his gaze back to you. "I can hear the footsteps of the other shrinekeepers being carried by my wind. You best complete the sealing ritual before they arrive, or you may as well decapitate yourself, before they do."

You winced at the reminder. There have been times when the Head Guardian failed to banish Satori, and that failure has caused them their heads. You didn't know what to do! You've uttered the only spell you know, the only spell that has been imparted to you ever since you learned how to speak. How were you to know that they were the wrong incantations if you had only one chance to find out for yourself?

Noticing your distress, Satori unfurled one of his wings to edge you near to him. You gasped at the feel of the soft feathers on your back. He kept prodding you closer until you were flush against his broad chest. He smelled of rosemaries, and you could only fathom how the demon who's spent a hundred years in the Netherrealm could have such an aroma. 

"I propose two solutions to your dilemma," he informed calmly. "One is that I teach you a temporary sealing spell that will send me back  to wherever you wish to send me. I cannot impart to you the actual spell that your ancestors have abused me with, since it's spoken in the tongue of the angels. But the spell I know of will only last for about five years. However, that's more than enough time for you to search for the original angelic spell." 

You couldn't believe what you were hearing. Was he seriously suggesting that he assist you in his own banishment, when he spoke so ill about it only a few moments ago? That hardly made any sense to you. It was also as if he was implying that accepting each banishment was his choice, and not something he had to resist. Your face contorted with doubt. For all you know, he could be leading you into a trap... Maybe instead of a so-called temporary sealing spell, he's going to make you utter the incantation that will make the binds of his heart weaken enough for him to steal it back. 

"W-What is the second?" your voice cracked with sheer nervousness.

He flashes a toothy grin. "You come with me to the Netherrealm, where no one can harm you, of course." 

"I refuse!" Your reply came instantaneously with an adamant glint in your eyes. He must have been losing his mind, right? How could he just impose that upon you so casually? Your life has always been here on Earth, with your family and friends! He couldn't just rip you out of the picture as he pleased. 

From the distance, you could hear the large iron gates at the bottom of the shrine creak in their hinges. They're here.

"Hmm, both choices will save you, girl. But you could always just die at the hands of the people you've considered family; the same people who caused you to underperform tonight, in the first place, because of their flawed education." Satori smirked. "But you don't want that, do you?"

You were trembling in his grasp, so badly that you dropped the holy scepter that was supposed to spite Satori should the tip be pointed in his direction. That definitely wasn't the case. What were you supposed to do at this point? Satori's words rang true. You didn't want to choose between two risky choices, but if you walked away from the out he was offering, you'd have to face the age-long wrath of your family. You had to choose the choice that demanded the least possible collateral. 

"I say, you'd have five more minutes left to make a choice, girl," he murmured softly, his hands caressing your hair almost endearingly. Your heart clenches at the action. What was it that you were feeling? Was he manipulating your feelings to his favor? You don't know, you don't know, you don't—

"I've watched you through the glass ever since it was given to you, do you know that?" Satori interrupted your downward spiral into madness, taking the necklace that held his heart from your unguarded hands. "You might be asking yourself, why doesn't he just kill me and take his heart back?" His rendition of a feminine voice was terrible, but you're too terrified of your fate to speak. 

When you continued to keep your silence, he sighed. "You see, girl, I am no ordinary yokai, you've realized that, at least, have you?"

You nodded. He did have a point. Satori was referred to as a tengu, but the only indication of that were his glorious wings. Every other attribute about him seemed to speak of something godly. You've never heard of a yokai who could manipulate the natural elements other than Satori. For the longest time, you've had the mind to question the elders about it, but they would only dismiss your curiosities as blasphemy of the doctrines. 

"That in itself is enough reason for me not to kill you and, 'destroy the valley', as you have said," he grinned. 

"I-I don't understand."

"You don't have to." 

You could hear the voices of your fellow shrinekeepers getting closer by the second. Satori took note of this as well, clicking his tongue. Suddenly, he placed the necklace, now pulsing with life, around your neck. It radiated the kind of warmth you always longed to receive from your family. Your fingers clutched it tightly, as you gazed into his entrancing eyes.

"Make your choice now," he pleaded, while holding out his hand for you. Why did he want to save you that badly?

A million thoughts race across your mind in a millisecond. You weighed each decision available, and you almost broke down with indecisiveness right there. But at the last second, you placed your hands, and your whole trust, in his, and you seemingly melted into the wind just before the shrinekeepers arrived at the last step of the stone stairway.

"Where is she?" Your cousin, Kento voiced out in concern.

Your grandmother's face turned grim, as she inspected the area. The shrine looked as pristine as they have left it in your hands before night fell, but the bronze scepter lay forgotten on the wooden floor. You were nowhere to be seen.

Kento hissed. "It was him! He took her, didn't he? I told you she was not strong enough to banish him, oba-san! It did not work!"

"Silence, Kento," demanded the older woman, as she felt the previously low temperature rise again. As she gazed up at the now clear sky, something caught her attention. A lone, ivory feather that glinted in the moonlight wafted in the air, and down to her feet. Despite her age, she managed to crouch down to study it between her fingers. 

"It has been done..."

 

* * *

 

Not more than five hundred years into the future, a peculiar duo hailing from the nearby Karasuno High School managed to get themselves stuck on a tour around the various historical spots in Miyagi. 

"Hinata, you dumbass! That wasn't the line for the train to Tokyo! It was a line for a tour!" Kageyama scolded his companion.

"Uwah! I thought they were going to to Tokyo because of their clothes. They looked like tourists to me, Kageyama!" 

"They _are_ tourists, just not in Tokyo!"

"If you're so pissed off about it, then why did we come up all the way in Fujiwara Shrine if you knew that in the first place?"

"S-Shut up! I was interested in the town lore!"

"Sir," the woman overseeing the tour interrupted their banter. "The lecture about a brief history of the shrine is about to start. It would be best if you kept your discussions at a minimum."

Kageyama promptly apologized, as Hinata jeered at him for getting scolded. 

Up ahead, there was an easel with a canvas concealed with a white sheet. An elderly woman wearing a traditional yukata began speaking in English, since some of the tourists were foreigners. Kageyama understood her greeting perfectly, but was annoyed when Hinata kept asking him for translations every second. He told his teammate off, saying he'll tell him the gist of it when the woman was done talking.

"The Fujiwara Shrine was founded around the eleventh century, at the generosity of its founder, Fujiwara Daisuke. But shortly after its construction, it caught the attention of the wind god, Satori. He was outraged at the completion of the shrine, since the Fujiwaras supposedly built it on top of his sacred ground. However, Daisuke did not acknowledge him as a god, which caused the deity to become angered at his heresy."

Kageyama became immensely interested in the details that the woman was imparting. He's no history junkie, but hearing about tales of gods and the like always seemed to fascinate him. 

The woman continued. "The disagreement eventually worsened, and Satori, blinded by his rage, wiped out the village below. But before he could do the same to this very shrine, Daisuke managed to cut out the god's heart while his guard was down. He encased the god's heart in the most unbreakable glass and hung it around his neck as a necklace. This phenomenon caused Satori to fall into the deepest pits of insanity. The loss of his heart eventually turned him into a yokai. Severely weakened, Satori was cast into the Netherrealm, a void said to house the most menacing of demons. Daisuke specifically enchanted him with the language of angels, something Satori could no longer speak because of the loss of his heart, so he could not unbind the seal on his will."

"However, no seal is completely formidable. Every one hundred years, the seal originally set up by Daisuke will weaken enough for Satori to slip back into the Earthly plane to steal his heart back. He knew this, and that's why he arranged for his grandson, Kisuke to learn the language of the angels right before he died. The tradition has been passed down to the Fujiwaras through the Shinto scrolls ever since. Until in the sixteenth century, Fujiwara (Name) was to take up the responsibility of sealing Satori back as the Head Guardian."

"Kageyamaaaa, I don't understand a word she's saying," Hinata whined. 

Kageyama put a finger to his lips with a scary expression on his face, effectively silencing the shrimp. 

"Like the responsibility of keeping him at bay for as long as possible, the necklace that contained Satori's heart was also passed down to each Head Guardian. However, the tradition upheld for almost half a millennium was broken by (Name). Accounts of this event were rather flimsy, since the Shinto scrolls at the time, were burned by an unknown individual. However, it was known that, at this period, it was forgotten than Satori was originally a god. He was regarded as a tengu, a type of bird-like yokai because of his wings. The reason why the tradition ended after (Name) is because, legend has it, Satori took an interest in her, for seeing through the fact that he isn't just a demon. Some said that he never came back to the Earthly plane because he had his heart back. Others whisper about the Fujiwaras secretly killing (Name) for her incompetence, and fabricated the story to cover up for the heinous crime."

Some of the tourists mumble in fascination.

"Now, Fujiwara Shrine would now wish to behold an illustration of the god-turned-yokai, Satori, through the skill of the late Fujiwara Kento."

After that, the woman unveiled the sheet on the whatever was standing on the easel, and the sight made Kageyama's eyes widen.

The parchment was fading into a dull brown, but the colors of the painting still seemed to be fresh. The detail put into each feather that made up his wings was breathtaking. But the face of the supposed Satori almost gave Kageyama a heart attack.

"T-That's...That's—" Hinata, though he probably didn't understand the woman's words, was as equally surprised as he is.

"Tendou-san," Kageyama finished for him.

The sound of his phone ringing in his pocket snapped the two of them out of their surprise.

"H-Hello?" Kageyama greeted shakily.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" Sawamura's infuriated voice resounded in the area, causing the other tourists to stare at them bizarrely. 

"Daichi-san, we're sorry," apologized Kageyama, while he grabbed Hinata's arm. The other boy protested at his sudden rush, but Kageyama just told him to shut up. "Hinata accidentally lined us up with the tourists exploring Miyagi. We're on the way to the station as we speak."

"You better be here in half an hour or it's two extra hours of drills for the both of you!" With the final word, their captain hung up.

Kageyama sighed, as he and Hinata went down the stone stairway that led to the shrine. The afternoon sun was glaring at them and there wasn't a single whistle of wind. The information he just took in swirled in his mind, unable to wrap his head around the fact that Satori the god looked exactly like Tendou from Shiratorizawa. When they descended to the bottom, Kageyama casted one last glance at the shrine up in the hill. For once, he's grateful that he and Hinata got lost. 

**Author's Note:**

> PHEW this ended up longer than I thought. This is one of my old WIPs when I started digging Tendou. I was really fascinated with the idea of him being a yokai, which also reflects on my other work, 'Til Kingdom Come, lmao shameless promotion: check it out. Anyway, I hope my world-building of sixteenth century Japan had the appropriate feel to it. Disclaimer: I don't know if there's a Fujiwara shrine in Miyagi, I literally just thought of a Japanese surname and chucked it in there. 
> 
> Next, this is more of an open-ended ending I guess? I didn't want to have to go into the technicalities as to how Satori is living as a player for Shiratorizawa in the present time when he fled into the Netherrealm with the reader character half a millennium ago. It's up to you to connect the dots~
> 
> ++I recently just put up a writing blog wow, you can talk me up [here](http://turooketsurou.tumblr.com)
> 
> Lastly, thank you so much for reading! Your feedback, in whatever form, would greatly be appreciated ^__^


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